Moore’s Law for iToF Pixels

Microsoft Azure Depth Platform blog publishes a post on iToF pixel scaling. Few quotes:

"Given we are at the upper limits of MC [Modulation Contrast] and QE, as pixel area is reduced by half, the temporal jitter increases by √2. Does that mean smaller pixels are doomed to poor performance? It turns out there is another lever to improve performance and that is modulation frequency.

So, it would seem like you can recover the performance drop that occurs due to reducing pixel size by increasing the frequency (Figure 2). However, this is only possible if the modulation contrast (MC) doesn’t significantly degrade with higher frequencies. Microsoft ToF technology is a leader where MC at high frequencies is concerned (78% at 320 MHz). Also, higher frequency can increase both chip power and laser optical power. We can discuss ways to mitigate this in future blog posts. Stay tuned."

PRNewswire: Meanwhile, LG Innotek joins the Microsoft Azure Depth Platform program "to unblock access to 3D vision technology and unleash innovation across multiple industry verticals such as: fitness, healthcare, logistics and retail with LG Innotek's ToF (Time of Flight) technology-based 3D camera modules and Microsoft's Azure Depth Platform."